Together
by Accalia Lea
Summary: Niklaus wakes when an unknown person removes the stake that had been stuck in his chest, to find that the world as he remembered it has ended. The walking dead seem to rule the earth and live human blood is in scarce supply. He comes across a group of survivors just outside of Atlanta. Can he convince them to help him or will he be forced to compel them in order to survive?
1. Chapter 1

This idea came to me earlier tonight. I've been watching a lot of Walking Dead recently and I heard the rumor that Daryl might be getting a love interest. I'm not sure if it's true, but if I had my way he'd be paired with a guy. That thought lead me to the idea for this story. Warning, there may be smut later on. Enjoy and let me know what you think! Couple of notes. Niklaus knows a few different languages and I plan to have him use them occasionally in this story. Translations for this chapter: scheiße (German for fuck), merde (French for fuck). Translations are from Google. Sorry if they aren't accurate.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead, The Originals or the characters!

**Chapter 1**

Niklaus gasped as he finally woke and slowly pulled himself up into a sitting position. His hand clutched at his chest and the memory of what happened came flashing back to him.

"I'm going to kill him," Nik growled. Kol had told him that Esther was still alive and asked for his help in putting her down for good. When Nik had arrived at the location Kol wanted to meet, Davina had used her magic and together, his brother and witch sister-in-law had driven a stake deep into his heart. Stakes didn't normally work on him so they must have enchanted it somehow. Nik growled again at the thought as he carefully lifted himself out of the coffin he'd apparently been stored in.

"The question now..." _is who the in the hell removed the stake?_ Nik thought before glancing carefully around the room he found himself in, "...is who I have to thank for waking me?" He asked, hoping that someone would reveal themselves, preferably a human someone. He desperately needed blood.

No response came, but as he slowly shuffled his way out of the room, his eyes landed on a note clearly meant for him on a nearby table. He picked it up and skimmed the page briefly, searching for a signature first. When he found none he sighed and began to read the entire note.

_Niklaus, Please read this entire message before you attempt to leave. Things have changed quite a bit while you've been asleep. You don't know me, so I understand if you don't trust me. This is why I'm writing this note before I remove the stake from your chest. I'll be gone as soon as it is removed. I'm a vampire that was turned shortly after you were staked and shortly before the world, as you knew it, ended. Take a look outside the window to your right and you will see what I mean._

Nik looked up and noticed a small window set into the wall on his right. He shuffled over to it, glancing at his hand to make sure his daylight ring was still in place, before stepping into the sunlight and peering out. He noticed people walking about on the streets, but he quickly noticed there was something very wrong with all of them. His eyes widened and he quickly returned his attention to the note.

_They are the dead, come back to life. Rotting corpses that can walk and crave living flesh. No matter how recently they died, their blood is toxic and cannot be consumed. Your older brother, Finn, learned that lesson the hard way. I'm sorry. He was not the only one we lost. It seems that whether you try to drink the blood, or one of the dead bites you, you will die. There aren't many of us left now and living humans are becoming increasingly difficult to locate. I suggest you find some survivors that are willing to be donors and stick with them. Good luck._

"Shit, scheiße, merde," Nik growled, cursing in several languages as he crumpled the note and threw it across the room. He needed blood, badly, after being staked, but if this note was to be believed it was going to be extremely difficult to locate some. Normally, he would completely ignore something like this as a foolish attempt at tricking him. This time, however, there was evidence proving it was correct just outside that window on the street below where he currently was.

Speaking of..._where the hell am I?_ This was definitely not New Orleans. Nik began to look around for clues as to his current whereabouts. Mail, a map, even a newspaper would do. As he searched, he made his way down to the first floor, keeping an eye out for any movement, just in case the dead somehow made their way inside.

Finally, on a small table near what he assumed was the front door, he found an old take out flier. On the back of the flier, near the bottom, he found what he had been looking for. There was an address for the take out establishment and judging by the circled items and worn feeling of the menu, this had been used frequently by whoever had stayed here. That could only mean that this establishment was nearby.

As he read the name of the city he scowled, imaging he could hear Kol's laughter. The city he was currently in was Ellijay, Georgia. If the resemblance to Elijah's name was any indication, this was definitely Kol's doing and only served as another reason Nik needed to kill the man. But first, he would need to figure out how to get out of here and back to New Orleans as he couldn't imagine Kol living anywhere else, even during the apocalypse.

\- Page Break -

Daryl Dixon fit right in with the apocalypse. He'd been a drifter before, surviving largely off of hunting and camping in the woods. Now, he still did all of those things except he had been roped into doing it with a group of survivors just outside of Atlanta. He would have preferred to remain on his own, but Merle insisted people were good for them.

Daryl assumed his brother actually wanted to be around these people so that he could try to steal drugs if they had any, but he had to admit that having a group made it easier to survive the Walker attacks. It was easy to take down three or four Walkers on his own, but it helped to have back up when there were larger groups. Regardless of the reasons, Daryl would never leave Merle behind. No matter what had happened in the past, Merle was his brother and Daryl was loyal.

Right now he was out hunting alone. He'd gotten some squirrels, but he was currently tracking a deer that he'd hit a few times with his arrows. The camp could really use some fresh meat and Daryl loved venison. Hearing a branch snap off to his left, the hunter lifted his crossbow and quickly aimed in the direction of the sound. A man stepped out of the brush about twenty feet away from him, but he didn't look like a Walker. There was definitely something wrong with the man though.

"Hey! Stop right there," Daryl threatened as the man turned to look at him.

"I'm sorry," the man smiled, sounding British to Daryl's ears, "but I'm afraid I can't do that." The man caught Daryl's eyes with his own and held them.

"What the hell," Daryl growled as he found himself lowering his crossbow against his own will. His breath caught in his throat at the man's next words.

"I'm going to drink your blood now. You'll regain control of your facilities as soon as I'm finished." The man's eyes flashed gold and Daryl suddenly noticed the very sharp looking canines protruding from that smile. He watched, unable to move or speak, as the man appeared to suddenly flash forward, stopping just inches away.

Daryl gasped as the man tilted his head and sunk his fangs into the hunter's neck, moaning against the skin as he started to drink. Daryl's breath came in short pants as the man stepped closer, wrapping an arm around the hunter's waist and pulling him closer as he enjoyed his meal. To his horror, Daryl released a pleasured groan when his hips met the stranger's and he felt the man smile against his neck.

A flash of disappointment crossed his mind as the man retracted his fangs from Daryl's neck and gently licked the wound before stepping away. Disappointment quickly turned to anger as the hunter realized he could move again and he quickly punched the man in the jaw, knocking him back slightly.

"What the fuck was that?!" Daryl demanded. "What in the hell are you?"

"Don't worry," the man soothed as he licked a trickle of blood from his lip, "you're not going to turn into anything. Still one hundred percent human."

"I'm so fucking relieved," Daryl spat sarcastically. "Answer the damn question."

"Ah, yes. How rude of me. I forgot to introduce myself properly. I'm Niklaus Mikaelson. Friends call me Klaus. I prefer not to explain myself more than once, but I suppose if I explain it to you, you can explain it to your group for me later."

"The hell if I will," Daryl snarled, starting to pace slightly in his agitation.

"Very well," Nik sighed. "I'm a vampire-werewolf hybrid. Yes, vampires are real. No, I was not turned by being bitten. That's false information the movie industry likes to spread. Yes, werewolves are also real, though they look much more like actual wolves when transformed rather than the incredibly unattractive beings the movies portray. Since I'm a hybrid, I can control my transformations at will and do not change simply because of a full moon. Am I going to fast for you?" The redneck seemed to be stunned speechless and Nik found it rather cute. He'd enjoying drinking from this human much more than he normally enjoyed it and it wasn't just because he was starved.

"Ahhh..." Daryl didn't know what to say. He was almost convinced that this man was insane, but he couldn't deny the gold eyes or the fangs he had seen and felt as they sunk into his flesh.

"Disbelief it is then. I'd offer to show you my werewolf form, but it's rather painful to transform and I think I've taken enough of your blood for one day. Though it was rather fun," Nik teased as he took a step closer to the other man and chuckled as the man took a step back in response. "Well, I've introduced myself. May ask who you are?"

Daryl's mind was reeling with all of the information he had just received so he latched on to the normal question he had been asked. "Daryl Dixon." Though he almost wanted to slap himself for the nearly eager response he had provided.

"Daryl Dixon," Nik repeated, smiling brightly. "So, are you going to invite me over for dinner then?" Daryl frowned until he noticed the vampire gesturing to the squirrels he still had strung over his shoulder. "I promise not to bite," Nik grinned and Daryl felt an urge to punch the man again. Repressing that urge, he nodded and turned to continue tracking his deer while the vampire followed.


	2. Chapter 2

Sorry about the long wait! I had a bit of a writer's block, but I'll try to update this more often. This chapter ended up being a little longer than I had hoped, but anyways...enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Originals, The Walking Dead or their characters. 

**Chapter 2**

Daryl scowled angrily at the vampire-werewolf that had followed him back to camp. While the man had been sucking his blood, a Walker had gotten to the hunter's deer and rendered the animal inedible. His mood was soured further by Shane who informed him that his brother, Merle, had been left handcuffed to a rooftop in the middle of Atlanta.

After Shane had informed Daryl of what had happened to Merle, the former police officer turned his attention to the smiling blond stranger beside their hunter. Shane eyed the man suspiciously. He knew that, even though the man was a hothead, the hunter could be trusted. If Daryl trusted this man enough to bring him into their camp, Shane was willing to give the man a chance.

"Who are you?" Shane asked and was surprised when the man replied in what could only be a British accent.

"Niklaus Mikaelson. Friends call me Klaus." Any further introduction was interrupted by Daryl.

"No one gives a shit about this sucker right now. What are we gon' do about Merle?"

"I'm the one who handcuffed him. I'll go back if I could get some help," a newcomer spoke and Daryl immediately turned his rage on the stranger.

"The fuck you cuff him for anyway? Damn right you're going back with me," he spat as he turned to gather some supplies from his tent.

"Rick..." Shane spoke as he turned to tall brown-haired man, "you don't even know if he's still alive. What about your family, man?"

"I know, I know. But I'm responsible for what happened to _that _man's family. I can't just sit here," the man responded.

Nik ignored the rest of their conversation in favor of observing his new surroundings. He observed at least 30 people. He never fed off of children, but that still left a considerable number of adults who could become donors. Though he rather hoped he would be able to convince Daryl to be his primary donor. The man's blood had been delicious and his reaction even more so. Nik very much wanted to explore the possibilities that pleasured groan had brought to mind.

"'M ready. Let's go," the hunter broke Nik's thoughts.

"You can't go, just the two of you," Shane sighed, clearly frustrated.

Nik observed as a man of Asian decent, Glenn, and an African American called T-Dog quickly volunteer to join Rick and Daryl. Shane throws up his hands and shakes his head exasperatedly before agreeing to keep an eye on Rick's family.

"Take the new guy with you," is Shane's final comment as he walks away. Nik quickly realizes that he is the one being referred to and sighs.

"Very well. Let us face the dead together then," he says as he offers a polite smile to the group. Daryl narrows his eyes and glares for a moment before turning to storm off in the direction of the vehicles.

"Daylight's burnin'," he declares. "Let's go!"

****Time Skip****

The mission to retrieve Merle Dixon was a failure. Daryl had been pissed off since, but the man seemed to be temporarily content with the knowledge that his brother was still alive, even if he was short one hand. Since they had arrived back at camp, Nik had been contemplating ways of making his situation known to the group. He was currently a short ways away from camp, sitting on a tree branch about 20 feet off the ground.

"Well, hello Daryl Dixon," he greeted as the hunter came into view. Daryl's crossbow was suddenly pointed right at him and he chuckled lightly.

"The hell you doin' up there?" Daryl responded as he slowly lowered his weapon.

"Listening. Thinking. I was actually hoping to speak with you," Nik stated as he jumped off the branch, landing lightly just a couple feet in front of the hunter. Daryl's eyes widened in surprise momentarily before shifting to a guarded caution, but he said nothing.

"Very well, I'll get right to the point. I was contemplating speaking with the rest of your group about my dining arrangements. They know you better, perhaps the news would be best coming from you...or the two of us together I should say," Nik smiled.

"No." The response was immediate and firm.

"No?" Nik raised a brow, but did not prod further. He wanted the hunter to offer his reasoning behind the negative response. Daryl's jaw clenched and he expelled a deep sigh through his nose before meeting the hybrid's eyes.

"No. The entire group doesn't need to know. And I won't ask anybody else to be bitten. People are scared enough o' that as it is. I choose the people to tell, but they choose if they wanna...donate...or whatever. No one else gets bit though." It seemed to Nik as though there was something more to that last statement that the hunter was holding back and he suddenly found himself extremely curious. Deciding to push the man just a bit he prodded further.

"No one else?" he asked as he took a cautious step closer to the hunter. He repressed a smirk when the man dropped his gaze in favor of the ground before responding.

"No one...other than me," Daryl swallowed before meeting Klaus' gaze once more. The man's eyes flashed once again but not with the gold Daryl had seen before. This time the hunger was entirely different and the hunter couldn't help the shiver that passed down his spine at the sight.

Briefly Daryl thought that perhaps it was a good thing Merle was not here at the moment. The older Dixon wouldn't take the news of his baby brother being gay very well. The hunter had never told anyone for that matter. The crowd that he and Merle had been a part of would not have taken kindly to that information and he preferred to stay alive and out of the spotlight. Now though? He supposed it really didn't matter if other people knew.

Realizing the current train of his thoughts had started with thoughts of the blood-sucking vampire before him made Daryl nearly want to punch himself. No matter how handsome the man was or how...intense seemed to be the best word to describe it...the actual act of the blood sucking had been, Daryl had no reason to trust this man just yet. He would have to ignore any thoughts of potentially fucking this man into the ground or being fucked until a later date.

"I'll go round up a few people," the hunter said before turning around and heading back towards camp.

"I'll be here," came the soft reply.

\- Page Break -

"Why exactly do we need to meet the new guy in the middle of the woods and so far away from camp?" Shane asked again, sounding exasperated.

"Let's just hear what he has to say, Shane," Rick responded as the small group of people followed Daryl through the brush.

"I'll listen. I'm just sayin' man. We don't know this guy and he wants to get us out here, separated. It just don't sit right with me," Shane argued.

"It ain't like he pulled you out here alone, Shane. Quit yer whining," Daryl glared at Shane before walking into the small clearing beneath the tree he'd found Klaus in before. When he didn't immediately spot the vampire he glanced up to see the man on the same tree branch as before.

"Hello Daryl," Nik addressed the hunter, but none of the others. "Are these the fine folks you've chosen?"

"Yeah," came the short response. Daryl then moved to sit on a nearby rock.

"I take it you're leaving the explaining to me then. Very well," Nik stated before turning his attention to the other people below him. Five people stared back at him, watching him cautiously. Nik noted that they were all men, most were around Daryl's age, but there was one who was older. The vampire had noticed the older man working on the RV or sitting watch atop it quite often. They should do nicely and if they couldn't be convinced he could always compel them to forget everything he was about to say.

"I suppose I should start by properly introducing myself," Nik stated and, before Shane could interrupt like Nik could tell he wanted to, the vampire jumped off of his tree branch to land lightly in front of the group, just like he had done to Daryl earlier.

"What the hell," Shane took a step back, his hand reaching for the gun on his hip.

"I've told you my name, Niklaus Mikaelson. I'm a vampire-werewolf hybrid. I'm one of the very first vampires to have been created and I am the first hybrid to be born as well. To other vampires I'm known as an 'original' and I also cannot be killed," Nik paused to look pointedly at Shane who had now drawn his gun and was taking aim.

"That so?" Shane asked, but judging by his tone it was rhetorical. Suddenly a shot rang out and Rick quickly took the gun from Shane.

"What the hell man?!" T-Dog shouted.

"Even if he was delusional we could have finished hearing him out," Dale stated.

"Guys!" Glenn drew everyone's attention back to Klaus and their eyes widened upon seeing the man still standing before them.

"I cannot die, but that still hurts," Nik growled as he opened his jacket to reveal the blood soaking a small part of his shirt near the bullet wound. The wound was through his right shoulder, just below the collar bone. "I will need to feed in order to recover," he said as he turned to face Daryl. Daryl sighed but pulled out his hunting knife and placed a careful cut on his arm. He walked forward and held his arm up.

"What the fuck are you doing man?!" T-Dog shouted.

"Seriously Daryl. You don't honestly trust this man do you?" Rick asked, seemingly the only level-headed man of the group Daryl had gathered.

"Don't bite me while they can see," Daryl whispered so that only Klaus could hear before he turned his attention to Rick. Klaus grabbed the hunter's arm and began to drink from the cut without revealing his fangs. "I wouldn't exactly say I trust 'im, not yet. But I do believe 'im. Hear him out. No more shooting." At the last comment he glared once more at Shane.

Nik ran his tongue over the cut on Daryl's arm to help the healing before he removed his mouth and turned back to the people that were gathered. He was already planning how to go about compelling Shane to forget this whole encounter and compelling the others to forget that Shane was a part of this. For some reason he could not fathom he did not want to use compulsion on Daryl though. He rather liked the idea of having someone, even in the apocalypse, who would know the entire truth about him.

"I'm assuming you all have questions after everything I did tell you. Perhaps we should take a moment to address those before we get into the point of this meeting," Nik offered. He knew humans tended to feel safer if their internal worries could be brought into the open and addressed.

"So you're a vampire...and a werewolf?" Glenn spoke first.

"Yes, a hybrid of the two."

"You said you were one of the first vampires to be created. What did you mean by that?" Dale asked.

"I was born to a witch, my mother, and a werewolf father. My youngest brother died and it devastated my mother. She never wanted to go through that pain again so she used her magic to cast a spell that was meant to breed immortality for myself and my siblings. It was successful in a sense, but we had become vampires which was not her intention. Never-the-less, here I am alive and well over a thousand years later," Nik finished with his arms spread wide as though presenting himself to them.

"I find it very hard to believe all of this," Dale stated, shaking his head.

"You may chose to believe or not believe my origins, but you cannot deny that I drink blood since you've seen me doing so. I also cannot die as you've seen when I was shot, but I'm also healed by the blood I consumed," Nik paused to lift his shirt, revealing smooth skin where a bullet hole had been just a little while ago. "As for the werewolf portion..." dropping his shirt, Nik allowed himself to slowly begin to transform. His eyes flashed gold and all of his teeth elongated. He lifted his hands to reveal fingernails morphing and lengthening into sharp claws. Once he was sure they had all seen the transformation he allowed himself to return to normal.

"Full transformations are quite painful, but when fully transformed I look like a rather large wolf."

"Oh my god," T-Dog said, looking horrified and like he may be sick. "I can't do this. I'm out." He turned to leave, but before he took more than two steps, Klaus was in front of him, hand on his shoulder.

"Before you go..." Klaus made eye contact with the man while the others looked on nervously. "You will forget all that you learned here today. You will remember this only as a meeting with the leaders of your group in order to properly introduce themselves to me and welcome me to the group. When you leave this clearing you will go back to camp acting just like normal. Now, tell your companions here that you'll see them later."

"I'll see you guys later," T-Dog waved, sounding completely calm, before he turned and casually made his way back toward camp.

"What the hell was that?!" Shane shouted.

"Ah yes, and you..." Klaus sighed before moving up to Shane. "You will forget your anger and fear long enough to have a rational conversation with this group."

"Okay, seriously. What the hell _is_ that?" Rick asked.

"It's called compulsion. I have no intention of using it too much. This is the point in the conversation where I offer you all an out as I have just given...T-Dog was it? He will not remember learning of what I truly am. If you do not wish to help me or if you just wish you had never known the truth, I can make it so that you will not remember any of this conversation either."

"What happens if we chose to stay?" Glen asked, somewhat nervously.

"He needs to eat," Daryl stated, matter-of-factually.

"Well, simply put that's correct Daryl. I need a somewhat frequent blood supply if I am to live comfortably, similar to the way you all need to consume food. Daryl has already generously agreed to donate, but if I took the amount I needed from him he would die within a month from the blood loss," Klaus admitted while looking not at all guilty.

"Hell no!" Shane cursed under his breath before turning to move toward camp. He looked rather like a man intent on warning the entire camp.

"Keep in mind that I could easily just kill all of you and you wouldn't be able to stop me," Klaus called after the former police officer.

"Then why, might I ask, haven't you done just that?" Dale moved forward. "What not just take what you need instead of asking? Don't get me wrong, I'm eternally grateful that you haven't, but it just seems strange to me."

"A living blood supply lasts longer," Glen answered, looking to Klaus for confirmation. The vampire smiled and clasped his hands behind his back. It seemed it was time for the humans to discuss. He would offer to leave them alone, but they may as well learn that he would be able to hear them whether he moved away or not. During this exchange, Shane had stalked back over to the group and stood there listening with his hands firmly fixed on his hips.

"Of course. I should have known. It only takes a few hours after death for the blood to coagulate. Looking at this logically, he is just another survivor, a strong one at that. He needs to eat to...survive...like we do and we can't eat meat that's gone bad," Dale explained, his focus on Rick and Shane. Klaus gathered that everyone seemed to look at those two as the leaders of the group.

"How exactly would this work?" Rick turned his attention back to the vampire who was still standing with his hands behind his back.

"Well, I can survive comfortably enough on roughly two pints of blood per week. That's about as much as a blood donation. Since there are five of you, I could take blood from each of you once in a five week period and rotate through so that the blood will have time to regenerate. It would be beneficial if we could find some additional participants rather quickly, however. Your current diet is not sufficient to maintain that amount of blood donation for long," Klaus finished by making eye contact with Rick.

Rick sighed and shifted his weight to his left leg. He took a moment to meet the eyes of the other people in his group. Dale seemed to be on board. Glen looked nervous, but resigned. Daryl looked almost hopeful, like he was going to continue helping the vampire no matter what and would like some assistance. It was Shane that Rick was most concerned about. Rick knew his own answer, but he would never force his partner to do something he didn't want to. Shane swallowed and Rick saw his jaw clench as their eyes met.

"You seriously considering this, man? You heard him. If we don't drag some other poor saps into this...we can't do this for long. You just got your family back. How would Lori feel if she knew about this, huh?" Shane was nearly in Rick's face at this point. Rick didn't respond. He could tell by the look in Shane's eye that he was going to help. "Dammit.. I can't just let you do this alone. I'll help, but there's no way in hell I'm letting him bite me." He turned and left then, clearly done with the conversation.

"I suppose we'll agree on the rotation later then," Klaus called after him, a slight smirk on his face.

"Listen. We'll help you, but in exchange you have to help us. Dale said it, you're strong. Probably a hell of a lot stronger than any of us, so I need your word. If we need help fighting off the walkers, moving or lifting something, or anything else for that matter...will you help us if we do this?"

"Very well," Klaus stated, resignedly. "You have my word, Rick." The two shook hands and the deal was made.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3! Please enjoy. Translations come from Google and again, I'm very sorry if any of them are inaccurate. Here's what you need for this chapter: Teufel noch mal – German for Dammit, Was – German for What.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Originals or The Walking Dead and their characters.

**Chapter 3**

After the discussion was over Klaus was feeling rather pleased with himself. Two pints of blood per week would be pushing it. He would constantly be on the edge of starvation and if one of his volunteers happened to back out or die...he may be forced to compel another participant or risk going mad from the thirst. All the same, he looked at today as a very promising start to his time with this group and he couldn't help the small smile that graced his lips as he caught Daryl's eyes. It dropped a second later as his sensitive hearing caught the sound of screams.

"What?" Daryl asked and the others all focused their attention on the vampire.

"Screams," he said as he turned and disappeared from their sight. Nik hated expending valuable energy saving people he didn't really care about, but he had given his word to Rick and this was a good opportunity to earn some brownie points with the man. Their camp was clearly under attack and Nik knew that Rick's family was there.

By the time he made it into camp he could tell that at least seven people had already been killed. The dead where everywhere and he picked up the first sharp object he could see. It was dark, but due to his enhanced senses he could see everything clearly. He tried not to scare the living by moving too fast, so he kept his speed at a normal human pace as he ran swinging the shovel he had grabbed.

Soon enough the people who had attended the meeting came running into camp behind him and joined the fighting. _Teufel noch mal,_ Nik cursed in his head as a couple more of the camp survivors went down. He rushed to kill the walkers, but he knew that it was to late for them. They had been bitten and so they were as good as dead. Things had been going so well for him, but this...this could cause so many problems.

"Teufel noch mal," he cursed aloud as the fighting was dying down. Daryl gave him a funny look as he pulled an arrow from a corpse's head. "Was?" he hissed, still speaking German. Daryl just furrowed his brow before moving to help a couple other survivors finish off the last of the walkers.

When the fighting was over and people where crying it finally dawned on Nik, why Daryl had been looking at him funny. He sometimes forgot that he fell back on some of his older languages when he was agitated. At least he hadn't slipped into Aramaic. That would have been harder to explain. In any case, he knew he'd have to explain it to Daryl later, if the look the man had given him was any indication.

"Hey, Klaus," speaking of the hunter...Nik turned and nodded his head. "Give me a hand with this," Daryl more ordered than asked. Nik had to bite back the snarky response he wanted to throw out. Now was not the time for such things.

By the time daylight hit they had accounted for all of their dead, and put knives through the brains of all of the fallen to make sure that they wouldn't come back. In total 15 of their people had died. Rick was a bit surprised to see how upset the vampire was. He was suspicious of the motives behind that emotion, but for now he chose to take what he could get. The vampire clearly hadn't lied when he gave his word that he'd help them out in the woods. The man had been the first to make it back to camp and was fighting fiercely when others who had attended the meeting had made it back.

To Rick it seemed that the man had been holding back though. Perhaps hiding his true strength so as not to alarm the rest of their group. While he was grateful that Klaus seemed to want to keep the peace, he wasn't exactly happy that the man hadn't given his all to save them. Perhaps they could have saved more people if the vampire had shown his true strength. Rick supposed that he would have to address that concern at some point, but for now he needed to focus on the present.

"We burn the walkers. We'll bury our dead on top of that hill," Rick said as he pointed. Slowly, people began moving. Glen, T-Dog and Morales started making a pile of the walkers. Daryl pulled out a lighter and a few moments later the pile was on fire. Klaus headed for the top of the hill, still carrying his shovel from the fighting. He supposed that he may as well start digging.

Once the dead were buried or burned, the group started debating where to go next. They all knew that they could not stay where they were. If the walkers had found them, it would only be a matter of time until more came. Nik sat back and listened to the debates. He would follow where ever his willing blood supply decided to travel so he wasn't overly concerned about the destination for now. He was surprised when their attention suddenly turned to him.

"You've traveled a bit right? Where were you before you came here?" Rick asked.

"Ellijay, Georgia. I was...in a coma. When I woke that's where I was. I discovered the world had gone to shit then. It was just as bad as here," Nik explained.

"That's north of here," Daryl offered, with a subtle sideways glance at the vampire. He knew this state probably better than anyone save Rick and Shane. The difference was that the two officers knew the state based on jurisdiction. Daryl knew it based on years of surviving by tramping through the backwoods of the entire state.

Nik tuned back out of the conversation until Daryl suddenly grabbed his arm. When he looked up he noticed that everyone was breaking off from the group and talking about packing up to leave the next morning. Nik looked up and met the hunter's eyes. It was clear from his expression that it was time for some answers. He stood and silently followed Daryl to the area where the man had set up his own tent. It was the farthest away from the others, but seemed more protected in Nik's opinion, better placement. The hunter led them into the tent and zipped it shut behind them.

"We need to talk," Daryl started, but was interrupted as Klaus grabbed his hips and pulled him close. "What the hell?" Daryl hissed, attempting to stay quiet.

"The taste you gave me in the woods was enough to heal the external wound. There is still more damage to my internal organs. I've been doing my best to avoid attacking the others. Daryl...please..." Klaus begged, his fangs elongating even as he continued to hold himself back. His eyes flashed gold and Daryl reached one arm up and grasped the back of Klaus's neck, pulling him closer as he tilted his head in silent agreement.

As the fangs pierced his skin for the second time, Daryl groaned. They were hidden this time, protected from view by the thin walls of his tent. He would try to stay quiet, but this time he wouldn't fight his body's response. There were still some questions that needed to be answered and until then he wouldn't let this go too far, but that didn't mean they couldn't both enjoy it in the moment.

Nik groaned as he felt the way Daryl responded to being bitten. He could tell that the hunter was not ready for too much more though, so when the hunter's hips pressed against his, he bite down just a little harder in warning. The man clearly took the warning, because Nik felt him stop moving his hips. Instead, Daryl placed his other hand on the vampire's shoulder, as if to brace himself.

Nik was careful to take only what he needed from his willing donor. When he was done, he carefully retracted his fangs and took his time licking the wound clean, enjoying the soft pants the hunter released. He could feel his wounds healing, the nick in his lung knitted closed and he took a deep breath as he pulled back to meet Daryl's eyes.

"Better?" the hunter asked, neither of them making a move to step back.

"Much. Thank you," Nik said, surprising himself with his own sincerity. He sighed and then finally stepped back, releasing his hold on the hunter's hips. "You said we needed to talk?" Daryl cleared his throat then and took a seat on the floor of the tent.

"Yeah...uh...I was wonderin' what you were saying right after the attack? I ain't never heard words like that."

"That, my friend, was a slip of the tongue. I..." Nik stopped as he realized he didn't want to lie to this man. He ran a hand through his hair before starting again. "I speak five languages including English and...well, sometimes I forget whose company I'm in when I'm frustrated."

"What languages?" Daryl seemed intrigued.

"Aramaic, Italian, French and German. German is what you heard earlier. The first thing I said, 'teufel noch mal,' means dammit. Then I asked 'was?' which means what? Though I said the last a bit more rudely because I had forgotten what language I was speaking," Nik chuckled a bit at that.

"I kinda like it," Daryl said, almost under his breath, but of course Nik heard it. Before he had a chance to respond, the hunter continued. "I also was wonderin' what you meant when you said you were in a coma?"

"My brother..." Nik growled. "Look, if I explained this it would...make me vulnerable. I do not wish to lie to you though Daryl..." he trailed off running his hand through his hair again.

"'salright," the hunter said after a moment of silence. "I 's just curious." After another pause he added, "can you say somethin' else in German?"

"Ich weiB es nicht was es ist über dich, Daryl, aber ich mag dich," he finished with a small smile on his face.

"I have no idea what you jus' said, but if it makes you that happy...you can say it whenever you want. Ain't nobody around here gon' care if you speak a bunch of languages." Daryl smiled before standing to begin packing up his things.

***Time Skip***

A week later they were leaving the city once again, after having watched the CDC get blown sky high. Much to Rick's dismay, Klaus had been forced to compel the doctor, Jenner, twice. First was when the man had asked them all to submit to a blood test. He had gotten the man alone and compelled him to forget about doing a blood test for him. He knew the good doctor would be smart enough to notice a few things in his blood that shouldn't be there.

The second time, he'd had to be extremely subtle about it because it had to take place in front of the entire group. He had compelled Jenner to open the doors so they could leave. That one, Rick had been a little more understanding of, if not grateful. There had just been no way around it. Klaus was not about to allow himself to be incinerated when he knew there was not enough live human blood around for miles to help him recover afterward. Also, he was rather fond of this group and didn't really want to see them dead...well, one of them at least.

"Where do we go from here?" Dale was asking Rick when they finally stopped that night.

"Fort Benning is still a viable option," Shane argued for possibly the fifth time.

"We've already seen how much good the military was able to do against this thing. Just look at the area around the CDC man," T-Dog stated.

"He's right," Rick agreed. "I don't want to travel that far for something that probably doesn't exist anymore."

"Well, since we're all offering ideas..." Klaus said as he entered the RV to join the others. "I just want to add my two cents. My family is from New Orleans. We have two family homes there, one of which is hidden out in the woods. It used to be a plantation and was built with the idea of keeping the slaves in line. Wouldn't want them breaking into the house or to be able to run too far. It's pretty secure and I believe it is very likely that my family will still be there. My sisters, Freya and Rebekah, and my brothers, Elijah and Kol. Possibly others...all my people who would gladly protect all of you," Klaus suggested before taking a seat at the small table.

"Protect us at what cost? Rick, I still don't trust this guy. What if he leads us there just to lock us all up? Besides, Louisiana is a hell of a lot farther away then Fort Benning," Shane glared at the vampire as he spoke.

"If any of you have any trust for me at all...know this. They are my family, and if I tell them not to harm you they won't."

"How do we know that? What makes you think they'd be willing to protect us just because you said so?" T-Dog asked and Klaus had to remind himself that this man didn't know the truth about him.

"Because, they will know that I don't ask such things of them often. When I do...it's for someone important," Nik finished with a brief, subtle glance at Daryl that the hunter failed to miss.

"I say it's like two birds with one stone. Shane won't shut the hell up 'bout that fort and it jus' happens to be in the same direction," Daryl stated as soon as Klaus had averted his eyes.

Rick gave a heavy sigh. He shifted his weight to his other foot and looked around at his people. It mostly seemed like they were just waiting for his answer. Shane was right, at least partly, in his opinion. They couldn't completely trust Klaus, but...Rick saw the look that the vampire had given their hunter. If he was lying about anything, the man was at least telling the truth about having someone important to him in the group. Though he had to wonder...just how important was Daryl to Klaus and in what way?

"I won't ask anyone to follow you," Rick sighed and Shane snorted in response.

"I'll ask people to follow us to Fort Benning," he stated as he stood, placing his hands on his hips. "Once we get there though..." he glared at Klaus once more before shaking his head and exiting the RV.

"Alright, let's just talk to everyone about Fort Benning and we'll go from there," Rick stated and there were nods of approval from the others before they all followed Shane outside. Before Klaus could turn toward the door, though, Daryl grabbed his arm and motioned for him to stay back. When they were alone Klaus sighed.

"D'you mean it?" he asked. Nik didn't really know what to say, which was surprising for him, so he did the first thing that came to mind. He placed his hands on either side of the hunter's face and gently pulled him forward into a soft kiss. It was a brief pressing of their lips together and then Nik pulled back, meeting Daryl's blue eyes with his own dark hazel. "Alright then," Daryl said before moving to exit the RV and Klaus took that to mean the hunter understood.

***Footnote: Translation for the sentence Klaus says to Daryl; Ich weiB es nicht was es ist über dich, Daryl, aber ich mag dich – I don't know what it is about you, Daryl, but I like you.


	4. Chapter 4

Finally! Another chapter is ready. Hope you enjoy!

Translations for this chapter: Scheisse – German for Shit, Fanculo – Italian for Fuck, Dannazione – Italian for Dammit

Disclaimer: I do not own TWD, The Originals or the characters.

**Chapter 4**

Most of the group was willing to follow them to Fort Benning. The only ones who decided not to join them was Morales and his family. Nik sighed as the group got even smaller. This group now had 20 less people in it than when he'd found them, leaving them with a total of 14, including him. Five of those people were currently willing donors for him and that was the only positive thing about his current situation. It meant almost half of the people he was traveling with knew the truth about what he was.

Another positive, in Nik's point of view, was that his new, seemingly permanent, travel position was on the back of Daryl's motorcycle. He rather enjoyed getting to wrap his arms around the muscular hunter as they traveled. The closer they got to Fort Benning, the more time he spent on the back of that motorcycle, the harder Nik was finding it to control his body's reaction to the close proximity with such an attractive male who smelled as good as Daryl did.

"Y'alright?" Daryl asked when he felt the vampire's face pressing into his shoulder. He was worried that the man may be overly hungry. For some reason that Daryl couldn't fathom, Klaus had been putting off eating for as long as possible.

This week was Glen's turn and Daryl wondered if the vampire put it off because he knew how nervous the younger man was about doing this. The man was very strict about allowing each donor the time to recover so Daryl couldn't hope to get Klaus to agree to taking from him since it had only been three weeks since he'd last donated.

Klaus didn't answer his question verbally. It would have been difficult to hear over the rush of the wind and the deep growl of the motorcycle's engine even if the man had spoken. Daryl drew in a breath when the vampire's lips grazed his neck.

"Don't," he warned, thinking that Klaus might bite him while he was driving. Instead of fangs, however, Daryl soon felt soft lips pressed gently against his skin, kissing him lightly starting just beneath his left ear and slowly moving down his neck. He was tempted to just pull over, but was saved from that temptation when Rick called a stop. It seemed he'd found a place for them to camp for the night.

As soon as they'd settled down, Daryl pulled Klaus into a separate room of the building they were camping in. Klaus followed without a word, but he smirked as Daryl locked the door. The hunter looked over his shoulder at Klaus while his hands were pressed firmly against the door.

"Well, you've got me here. Now what will you do with me, Daryl?" That seemed to be all the invitation the hunter needed as he pushed himself off the door, growling low in his throat, before grabbing Klaus by the waist and pushing him up against the wall. Nik chuckled, "I do love it when you're rough."

"Shut up," Daryl said before claiming the vampire's lips with his own. With how jammed up the highways were, the journey to Fort Benning was a slow one. So far, every minute of it Daryl had spent on that bike with the firm body of one of the most attractive men he'd ever met pressed tightly to his back. He had not been unaffected and when he'd felt the light touch of Klaus's lips on his skin...he'd nearly lost control of his bike.

When they couldn't fight the need to breath any longer, Daryl pulled back beginning to trail his lips over Klaus's jaw and down to his neck. The hunter moved his hands down just enough to get under the hem of Klaus' shirt before the calloused fingers began trailing their way back up the vampire's skin, pushing the fabric up as they moved.

From where he was panting against the wall, Nik was thrilled. He had hoped to rile the hunter up a little bit when he'd kissed the man's neck on that bike, but he had not expected it to work this well. Most of the time humans were terrible bed partners. They were either afraid of doing anything that might anger him or they wanted him to dominate them because they assumed he would like the feeling of power over them. What they failed to realize is that he always had more power than them, so dominating them in bed as well was just boring.

Vampires tended to make better lovers because they weren't afraid to play rough, knowing that they wouldn't be able to kill each other just by fucking. In all of his thousand years of life though, Nik had not had the pleasure of a human deciding to let loose and be rough with him like Daryl was doing now. The hunter probably had no idea how much of a turn on this was and Nik began to wonder exactly how far Daryl wanted to go right now. If he didn't want sex, Nik would have to stop him soon.

Daryl's fingers found Klaus's nipples and pinched them roughly as he sucked a hickey into the vampire's neck. The other man gasped and bucked his hips forward. Daryl grinned at the hardness he felt in the other man's pants at that moment and his hands moved down to Klaus's belt. As he began to tug it loose the vampire covered his hands with his, stilling them for a moment.

"Daryl, are you sure about this? I don't think I'll be able to stop if we go any further," he panted.

"Nobody wants you to stop," Daryl said, his voice husky. Deciding to test a theory, the hunter leaned forward as his fingers continued to loosen the belt, and bit down on Klaus's shoulder just hard enough to leave a mark, but not hard enough to break skin.

The growl of pleasure that ripped through the vampire's chest at that moment caused a shiver to course through Daryl's spine and he found himself turning to shove the man onto a mattress that was in the corner of the room. He began to strip out of his clothes, watching as Klaus's eyes carefully followed every movement.

"Strip," he commanded and Klaus smirked, sitting up just enough to pull his shirt off and then laying back on the mattress to slowly pull his jeans down over his hips. "Damn," Daryl breathed as he realized the vampire wasn't wearing underwear beneath his jeans. This man had controlled him, used his body for the blood flowing inside of it, and now Daryl decided it was his turn. For right now, in this moment, he would take control, take everything he wanted for as long as Klaus was willing to let him.

Daryl had no illusions about which of them was stronger. And while he knew that fact added significant danger to this situation for him, he also knew it meant that he wouldn't have to hold back. He could be as rough as he wanted to with this man and wouldn't have to worry about him getting hurt. The thought thrilled him even though a small part of his brain whispered that this wouldn't be a quiet encounter and the others would definitely hear. He just didn't care if they knew.

Suddenly, Klaus found Daryl hovering over him on the bed, completely naked. He briefly noted the numerous scars littering the hunter's body, especially his back, as the man moved over him. Then Daryl was kissing him again and they both groaned when the hunter ground his hips down against Klaus's. When they broke for air, Daryl started moving down, seemingly wanting to run his mouth over every inch of exposed skin and Klaus dropped his head back panting.

"Ah," he hissed suddenly when Daryl bit down harshly on the skin of his inner thigh. It was quickly followed by a moan as the man soothed the skin with his tongue before trailing kisses higher up on his thigh.

A twinge of disappointment passed through Klaus's mind when he realized that Daryl meant to blow him. That act was something he'd only ever experienced when someone wanted him in control. If that's what Daryl wanted though, Nik wouldn't stop him. He started to reach down, ready to grab a handful of the unruly brunette hair, but was surprised when Daryl slapped his hand away.

"Don't touch. Watch," he commanded and Klaus's disappointment disappeared immediately. He eagerly pulled a pillow over to brace his head up and Daryl held eye contact as he slowly lowered his mouth onto Nik's throbbing member.

His lips only skimmed the skin as he took Klaus deeper and then slowly pulled back off of him and the vampire whimpered. When he reached the tip the second time he relented and closed his mouth fully over Klaus's head before sucking hard. Klaus growled above him, eyes dark with lust as he gripped the bedspread to prevent himself from touching the hunter. Daryl rewarded him by dropping head down, enveloping Klaus's cock fully within the wet heat of his mouth.

"Scheisse," Nik cursed, eyes closing at the wonderful sensation. When Daryl suddenly stopped he whined, "fanculo.."

"I told you to watch," Daryl growled and Nik's eyes flew open when the hunter suddenly deep throated him, squeezing his balls in one hand. It didn't take much more for the vampire to be pushed over the edge. Daryl worked his mouth over the hard length stopping to tease the slit with his tongue before taking him deep once again and swallowing around his length. Klaus came without warning, spilling his seed deep in the hunter's mouth and gasping as he watched the man swallow every drop.

"You didn't warn me," Daryl growled again as he released the now softening length with a soft pop. "Guess I'll have to punish you," he said before grabbing Klaus's hips and flipping him quickly onto his stomach. A moment later Daryl entered him roughly, burying himself to the hilt in one sharp thrust.

"Fuck, yes!" Klaus cursed, his vampire healing quickly dissolving away the pain. The fact that there was so much in the first place was a pleasant surprise. He'd known Daryl was large, but hadn't had the chance to truly admire the man visually. Now though, he could intimately feel every hard inch that was buried inside of him.

It didn't take long for the hunter to start moving, and Klaus loved the brutal pace Daryl soon set. The metal bed frame began smacking the wall but neither man cared, too absorbed in the passion of their fucking to notice much of anything happening around them. When Daryl felt himself nearing his end he finally spoke.

"Touch yourself. Make yourself come for me," he ordered.

"Fuck," Klaus moaned as he lifted his hips enough to grasp his once again hard cock and begin stroking it. The new angle caused Daryl to hit his prostate and he gasped. "Again...please," he begged.

"Only if you tell me who you belong to," Daryl ground out as he nearly stilled his hips, struggling to hold himself back.

"Dannazione, you! I...belong...to you," Klaus panted through gritted teeth. He'd never said that to anyone before, but once he said it Nik realized that it wasn't as hard to say to Daryl as he thought it'd be. With this man...it seemed right. His internal debate was quickly cut short when the hunter thrust roughly into him, striking his prostate relentlessly and Klaus came into his hand a few thrusts later.

Daryl felt Klaus clench around him signaling the vampire's climax and he buried himself deep inside the man's tight heat before finally spilling his seed. He gave a few final, lazy thrusts as Klaus milked him dry before he pulled out and collapsed on the bed beside the other man. Neither seemed to know what to say so they lay in comfortable silence while they caught their breaths.

"So..." Daryl spoke first. "What languages were those?" Klaus laughed.

"I'm pretty sure I used some German and Italian this time," he said as he rolled onto his side to face the hunter. "So, I belong to you now, hmm?" Daryl blushed for the first time and Klaus couldn't help but lean forward to kiss him. "You can never tell anyone I admitted that. They'd kill you or try to use you against me somehow."

"...but, you don't regret sayin' it?" Daryl asked cautiously.

"No, I don't," Nik admitted, surprising himself once again. He despised being this vulnerable in front of anyone, but something drew him to this hunter and he just couldn't stop himself from reaching out and pulling the man into a fiery kiss that soon had the hunter hovering over him and plunging into him yet again.

Shane sighed as he sat down beside Rick. Everyone in the house could hear the soft knocking sound coming from one of the rooms upstairs, but Shane seemed to be the only one concerned about it. He decided to bring his concerns to Rick's attention.

"You know what's happening up there..." it wasn't a question, but Rick sighed all the same, clearly already exasperated with the conversation.

"Yeah...and?"

"Well, aren't you the least bit concerned man? I mean, Daryl happens to be one of the good men we have left to fight...to help protect your family. Are you really okay with him putting himself in that kind of danger?" Shane was sitting with his arms propped on his knees. He kept his voice down which Rick was thankful for, but he still didn't want to have this conversation.

"Daryl is a grown man. I don't have a problem with two consenting adults...letting off some steam," he started.

"Yeah and what happens when 'letting off steam' turns into all-you-can-eat for our fanged _friend_ up there?" Shane snapped, voice still low enough not to attract attention.

"Look, Daryl trusts Klaus and so far the man has given me no reason not to trust him. He's been honest with us and he sticks to the schedule that we all agreed to. What exactly would you have me do? If I tried to kick him out he'd probably just _compel_ us all into thinking we want him around. For now he's at least giving us a choice," Rick spat back, quiet enough that only Shane could hear.

"That's exactly the problem man. This is why I didn't want anything to do with him when we met in the woods..." Shane grumbled before standing to stalk off, most likely trying to busy himself with the task of searching for more supplies in this building.

"What was that all about?" Dale asked as he took Shane's previous spot beside Rick. The sheriff released yet another heavy sigh.

"Shane's concerned..."

"Ah. I will admit it concerns me a little as well, but they are both grown men, no matter what we may think of Klaus. We did all make the choice on our own," Dale stated, thoughts seemingly echoing everything Rick was thinking.

"He'll come around," Rick responded, not sounded overly confident in that statement.

"I certainly hope so. The last thing we need is for him to jeopardize the peace we currently have with that man." With that Dale stood and moved back over to the only window in the room. He had volunteered to take the first watch after lights out. Rick moved over to Lori and Carl, wrapped his arms around them and drifted into an uneasy sleep.


End file.
